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Rugby Union


kiwififer

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Having not given away a penalty in living memory, Watson was very lucky not to get a yellow, very surprised that it wasn't given closer scrutiny by the TMO.



I haven't seen it since but in the replay I thought one of the Boks hit Le Roux as Mish was putting him down and that's what caused him to go beyond the horizontal. I suspect the TMO saw it this way too.
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Vunipola is a pretty poor scrummager by international standards. He's a skillful ball carrier, and hits rucks well, but he's nowhere near reliable enough in the scrum, especially against SA. That's the main reason he wasn't in the original 23 for yesterday, and has been his major issue in big games throughout his career when he comes up against a half decent TH.

He did fine yesterday when he came on, but I'd be hard pushed to say the scrum was better on his side. Sinckler on the other side was obliterating Kitshoff, which in itself was a surprise, and Vunipola held his own without getting on top.

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1 hour ago, scw1987 said:


 

 


I haven't seen it since but in the replay I thought one of the Boks hit Le Roux as Mish was putting him down and that's what caused him to go beyond the horizontal. I suspect the TMO saw it this way too.

 

 

does look like DuToit puts him over the horizontal 

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19 hours ago, Mark Connolly said:

Vunipola is a pretty poor scrummager by international standards.

Folk used to say that, but it stopped being true about 3-4 years ago. He's definitely a top scrummager now, he's really aggressive.

I'd still rather have Jones or Sutherland though.

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With Vunipola ive noticed it depends on the type of scrum. If you want him to anchor a scrum and not move at all he is really solid, but struggles if your trying to get go forward - its probably as soon as he has to move his feet he struggles. I was also suprissed / impressed with the scrum in the 2nd half when the subs came on, although the SA replacements coming on at half time didn't have any impact on the game

I thought he actually did a lot around the park 2nd half when he came on.

I thought Watson was really poor under the high ball, any SA danger came down his side.

Im just hoping that some actual rugby is played in the last 2 test, SA are just so predictable / boring to watch, bash it up close a couple of times, then high ball to the corner, repeat if ball's won.

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2 hours ago, honestly united said:

With Vunipola ive noticed it depends on the type of scrum. If you want him to anchor a scrum and not move at all he is really solid, but struggles if your trying to get go forward - its probably as soon as he has to move his feet he struggles.

That's a good shout, I'll watch out for that.

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Im just hoping that some actual rugby is played in the last 2 test, SA are just so predictable / boring to watch, bash it up close a couple of times, then high ball to the corner, repeat if ball's won.

Amen. It was a strange match, the hits were big but it didn't have that epic quality you normally get with Lions matches.

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2 hours ago, honestly united said:

With Vunipola ive noticed it depends on the type of scrum. If you want him to anchor a scrum and not move at all he is really solid, but struggles if your trying to get go forward - its probably as soon as he has to move his feet he struggles. I was also suprissed / impressed with the scrum in the 2nd half when the subs came on, although the SA replacements coming on at half time didn't have any impact on the game

I thought he actually did a lot around the park 2nd half when he came on.

I thought Watson was really poor under the high ball, any SA danger came down his side.

Im just hoping that some actual rugby is played in the last 2 test, SA are just so predictable / boring to watch, bash it up close a couple of times, then high ball to the corner, repeat if ball's won.

That's exactly it with Vunipola. If you want him to make sure the scrum is solid, he can do it pretty well.

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Price and Sutherland to the bench. Watson out altogether. Harris starts. Pretty tough on Price to be honest. 

On the other hand Liam "Rock under the high ball" Williams drops out completely. Fucking lol.

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Very strange no hamish, very harsh on price. Perhaps he's reversing it this week..ie keep it tight then unleash creativity when springboks tire?
Unbelievable that Curry keeps his place.
Oh well, we have 3 starters and 2 will come off bench...so 5 test players involved..can't argue with that

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9 minutes ago, John Lambies Doos said:

Very strange no hamish, very harsh on price. Perhaps he's reversing it this week..ie keep it tight then unleash creativity when springboks tire?
Unbelievable that Curry keeps his place.
Oh well, we have 3 starters and 2 will come off bench...so 5 test players involved..can't argue with that

I'm not sure what Faletau has done to get the bench spot either to be honest, but he's a bit more flexible to be honest. I don't think Watson has been dropped due to performance, I think it just makes more sense to pick Curry or Watson and go with it.

Price is really unlucky. Murray better be good because if he comes in and starts the aimless box kicks and can't pass, Gatland will get pelters. Big call.

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